I have 6 Light Sussex chicks in the brooder. They are about a week old. This strain can be feather sexed and this method says at 3 days old, they are all pullets. From a show strain, they are that lovely correct Light Sussex yellow. On several of the chicks, where the hackle will eventually be, the necks are a darker shade of gold. My question: Is this something I want to see or something to avoid. My birds do not have superhackles. Thanks, Karen in western PA, USA

Thanks Redcap. An interesting study.Here's the abstractVariations in the Phaeomelanin Intensity of the Head and Neck Feathers of Gold Columbian Chicks.R. G. Somes Jr.Poult. Sci. May 1973 vol. 52 no. 3 831-835

The study is about the segregation of an unusual chick down phenotype, from the crosses of Rhode Island Reds, New Hampshire Reds and Buff Orpingtons. This "light headed" day-old phenotype is unusual in that they appear wheaten based with 2 different tones of phaeomelanin, ie very pale buff heads & necks yet dark reddish back. Test breeding indicated possibly a polygenic trait (multiple genes involved).

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Originally Posted By: Marvin

can anybody confirm different e+ e alleles? so far I've seen the Red Jungle fowl and the Grey Jungle fowl, which also have a wildtype(chipmunk) chick down, but dont know if they are one and the same

R. Okimoto has noted that MC1R (E locus) DNA testing results of the 4 jungle fowl species, has determined that 3 species share the same MC1R sequence: Red Jungle fowl, Grey Jungle fowl, Ceylon Jungle fowl, yet the Green Jungle fowl allele has some differences. But the Green Jungle fowl allele doesn't have any of the mutations noted in domestic chickens (ie don't have substitutions as found in E, ER-Leghorn, ER-Fayoumi, eWh or eb alleles).

But keep in mind - the phenotype of a chick down is not dependent on a single locus, but is the result of all pigment/pattern influencing genes in a genotype.

I am working on a project with golden cuckoo marans and salmon marans. I will have some chicks from a hatch that are Er/e+ or Er/Er. Is there any clues in their chick down or adult feathering as to who the Er/e+ ones are? It will save me a lot of time if there is sone way to tell. Is the Er completely dominant?Thanks!Heather